CHIP: THE COST(S) OF CHASING THE AMERICAN DREAM
“We’re not starving,” Chip said to me at our last meeting. “We’re still going. They’re not knocking on the door or anything.” Chip wouldn’t call himself working class, but in many respects he is.
Chip is white, just south of six-feet tall, and has light color hair that he keeps buzzed. His face has some wrinkles around the eyes and forehead, but despite his 57 years, he still maintains a youthful look that is partially offset by his thin-framed glasses, and a barely visible hearing aid. We always met on campus after Chip got off of work, so I usually saw him in his work clothes – a fading-red button up, a pair of gray work pants, and hands perpetually covered in black ink.
Chip has been fixing copiers in the Austin area for three decades, but his hard work has not translated into a secure financial future. Over time, his labor has taken a toll on both his physical health and his finances—making retirement seem increasingly improbable. “I figure I probably won’t retire. I mean just the way things are now. I don’t know how that’s going to work out,” he told me once. Like many people, Chip is chasing the American Dream, but often that chase has felt more like running on a treadmill, going nowhere fast.
Recent studies have shown that among the major developed countries the United States lags behind with regards to economic mobility. And according to the Pew Research Center, Americans born at the top and bottom of the income ladder are likely to stay there as adults. This “stickiness” at the bottom and top of the income ladder is Chip’s story.
In 1984, Chip enrolled at the Southwest School of Electronics, which has since become the Southwest School of Technology. Similar to ITT Tech, the Southwest School of Electronics is a vocational school where students learn the skills necessary to become an electronic technician. At age 27 Chip earned his associate’s degree and began working for a local Austin business fixing copiers. He’s been doing it ever since.
Chip and his wife of 30 years live in an aging doublewide trailer on the outskirts of Austin with no gas and no sewage. His car, like his body, requires constant maintenance. Hard work and perseverance are supposed to be the only ingredients needed to achieve the American Dream, but the truth is much more complicated. You can see it in Chip’s hands, his failing eyes, and in his beat up car that doubles as his mobile office. Something is about to give.